Arrested Development: The Movie is Confirmed
Fox Searchlight Have Given Feature Film the Green Light
Nov 24, 2008
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There is a new place to see Arrested Development: the cinema. After years of speculation, it looks like the acclaimed TV series will definitely appear on the big screen.
The series depicted the chaotic antics of the dysfunctional Bluth family, who are thrown into disarray when father George Bluth Sr. (Jeffrey Tambor) is arrested for fraud. As his superficial sister, bitter and twisted mother and clueless brothers run about wreaking havoc, it falls to Michael Bluth (Bateman) to hold everything together. A big hit with critics (and audiences in the UK), the show was cancelled in 2006 due to poor ratings.
Ratings: A Recurring Trend
Other American sitcoms have seen a similar demise, with notably popular animations axed after audience figures reduced. Matt Groening’s futuristic follow-up to The Simpsons was dropped by Fox in its fourth series in 2003. It was relocated to Cartoon Network and Comedy Central and, after demand from fans, three feature length movies were produced and released directly to DVD. A fourth, Into the Wild Green Yonder, will be released in the US in February 2009.
A similar fate was suffered by Family Guy, which was cancelled (again by Fox) in 2000, before being resurrected due to high DVD sales. It was dropped a second time in 2002, only for the program to resume once more in 2005 for exactly the same reason.
Each show made copious references to the network’s decisions within their episodes. In the third and final series of Arrested Development, the Bluth family caught wind of the impending cancellation and brought in producer Ron Howard (played by himself) to pitch their idea for a movie. Now, off screen, the show’s creator Mitch Hurwitz and Ron Howard have done the same thing.
Rumours Confirmed
Produced under the Searchlight banner, Fox’s independent wing, the movie will be “typically bent and twisted”, Jason Bateman told MTV earlier this year. But hopes were shattered in September when Michael Cera – who played his neurotic son, George Michael – expressed some disinterest in the possibility of a project. As a major member of the show’s ensemble, the assumption was that fans would be forced to relive their favourite moments on DVD. He said to the National Reporter: “I don’t think it would be worth doing unless it was going to live up to the expectation that might come with it.”
With the recent news from the Hollywood Reporter ('Arrested Development film gets closer', published on November 21) that the deals have been closed, the expectations will be soaring.
